Buc McMaster Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I popped into the music store I once managed this morning to buy a Zoom Q3HD at a good price.......which I did. But in the acoustic guitar room they had one of those carbon fiber Hoffee dreadnaught cases, the first one I've ever seen in the flesh, so to speak. Wow. Q-u-a-l-i-t-y case, my friends, and very lightweight. The store owner and I are best of friends and he said take it home for awhile, try the guitars in it for fit and let him know if I want it or not. Hmmm.......not cheap at all, but he will sell to me at a cost + price.......couldn't do better elsewhere. It fits the Hummingbird quite tight, being new. I expect there would be some compression of the padding with time. I think the J45 might fit it perfectly, having the round shoulders. It'll be home from the shop next week and I'll try it for fit........ Very handsome case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchristo Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 those cases are very nice, but my guitars very seldom leave home anymore why is your 45 in the shop ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 That is a serious guitar case (at a serious price). How do we know the carbon fibre shell won't shatter to little pieces like the carbon fibre Grand Prix cars do when they hit each other or a barrier? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 That is a serious guitar case (at a serious price). How do we know the carbon fibre shell won't shatter to little pieces like the carbon fibre Grand Prix cars do when they hit each other or a barrier? BluesKing777. It's all a function of the resin and fiber orientation used. You can use ultra high-modulus unidirectional carbon fiber like the GP cars (and the boats I work with) use, or you can use woven bi- or multi-directional lower-modulus materials and lower-modulus resins. Properties of the finished laminate are a function of the base materials. You can make it light and stiff, or strong and light and more flexible, Buc should buy this case. You never know when you'll have to fight your way out of a bar room using your guitar case as a weapon. This one looks ideal to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I guess this case is made of the woven carbon fiber.........sure looks woven to me. And BK, if my guitar case goes hurtling into a barrier at GP race car speeds I reckon what happens to the guitar in that situation would be the least of my worries......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morkolo Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 That is a serious guitar case (at a serious price). How do we know the carbon fibre shell won't shatter to little pieces like the carbon fibre Grand Prix cars do when they hit each other or a barrier? BluesKing777. That's the worst part about carbon fiber composites, I've been using them for years now with my hockey sticks and love the light weight, feel, flexibility, strength, etc.. The only downsides are cost versus older more reliable wooden designs and consistency... some of them are 100X stronger than their wooden counterparts whereas others are weak and shatter to pieces. Unfortunately the only time you find this out is when pressure is applied... meaning it either does the job or breaks to pieces which doesn't bode well for the guitar inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I guess this case is made of the woven carbon fiber.........sure looks woven to me. And BK, if my guitar case goes hurtling into a barrier at GP race car speeds I reckon what happens to the guitar in that situation would be the least of my worries......... That's what we call "cloth" configuration, or woven roving. Cloth is generally fairly fine weave, like this. Woven roving is coarser, and is used to bulk up a laminate. Cloth results in a more flexible structure, and is unlikely to shatter. It is still lighter and stiffer than fiberglass, and it looks nice when clear-coated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPDEN Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Most inner padded wood and molded cases offer enough protection without he added cost of more costly composites. Ifvthe material is woven such as kevlar, it becomes stronger and more rigid by the amount of multiple layers applied The more the better, and more costly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Most inner padded wood and molded cases offer enough protection without he added cost of more costly composites. Ifvthe material is woven such as kevlar, it becomes stronger and more rigid by the amount of multiple layers applied The more the better, and more costly. The advantage of carbon is that you can build a stonger, lighter case because of the higher modulus of the base material. You don't need to build up thickness to get rigidity. The tradeoff is that you can also build a very light, stiff case that is very brittle if you aren't careful. Kevlar is a lousy and labor-intensive material to work with, as the fiber doesn't wet out, and it "fuzzes out" when you sand it between laminations. It is strong in some ways (has high impact resistance), and flexible. That's why it is used in body armor. It's a poor choice for a laminate requiring any stiffness, such as a guitar case. Molded plywood is a cost-effective material for "normal" hard cases. However, a plywood case will always be heavier than a carbon case of similar mechanical properties. The advantage of carbon composite in cases is that you can optimize the properties of the shell for its intended use. At the end of the day, plywood is plywood (with obvious caveats). If you've ever worked as a roadie, you would appreciate any weight savings in the equipment you have to man-handle every night. Personally, if I were still on the road, I would make everything I could out of carbon. It's a great material, although not a lot of fun to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchie69 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I popped into the music store I once managed this morning to buy a Zoom Q3HD at a good price.......which I did. But in the acoustic guitar room they had one of those carbon fiber Hoffee dreadnaught cases, the first one I've ever seen in the flesh, so to speak. Wow. Q-u-a-l-i-t-y case, my friends, and very lightweight. The store owner and I are best of friends and he said take it home for awhile, try the guitars in it for fit and let him know if I want it or not. Hmmm.......not cheap at all, but he will sell to me at a cost + price.......couldn't do better elsewhere. It fits the Hummingbird quite tight, being new. I expect there would be some compression of the padding with time. I think the J45 might fit it perfectly, having the round shoulders. It'll be home from the shop next week and I'll try it for fit........ Very handsome case. beautiful case! I also like the the interior lining. matches perfectly with that lovely honey toned!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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